A bit far fetched. My Polycraft is 12 years only and still looks like new. I haven't heard of anyone else having such problems either.Originally Posted by ranmar850
And get the irrepairable sunrot/UV deterioration instead! At least ally and fibreglass is fixable.
Not exactly as except for the two smaller models they come with plywood floors.Get a Polycraft, and leave the fibreglass rot and aluminium electrolysis problems behind.
you seem like the type of fella who would look after it though
how do you store your poly ?
Interestingly, My boat is an 88, and has just had stringers/floor and transom done.
My floor was Masonite, I was shocked, BUT, apart from a small area by the battery, was still perfect. It was coated with a black tar like substance underside
and I was shocked when the skill saw came out to remove it, mind it made an easier removal job.
So a 30 plus year masonite floor was still basically in perfect condition, I believe because, no one had drilled a hole anywhere in it for water ingress. So it can last, and prove it's mechanical issues that cause it to rot. Did I replace it with Masonite, Hell no ! but it was 30 years old and still good.
My stringers and bulk heads were toast, that's another story.
Now, I was shocked when I found this, so I rand Cruise Craft, they were very helpful, this practice of using Masonite went on till the early 2000's. I specifically asked why not Marine ply and I was told """""" Masonite was used, because of the failures of marine ply in high humidy climates, where as the Masonite was not effected"""""" That was exactly what I was told by one of the sons there. Right or wrong, I found that an interesting answer.
I used to fish with a mate that wasn't a tight turning circle ! To be polite, I used to glance down at the floor underneath the pedestal seat and while he squeezed in to the bucket seat, my floor would ripple with his movement,,, I swore it was floor rot, but now realise it was just 160 kg's of prime Aussie male vrs a 7-8mm Masonite floor. But, surprisingly as mentioned, I only had a wee damp spot down by the back battery where the P/O had drilled a hole for something. Same with under deck, as soon as she developed a bad leak at the bow eye, which would have gone un detected for years, the stringer and bulk head finishing work, couldn't handle any water intrusion and slowly rotted. Mines gone back with hard wood stringers, properly sealed and ply floor, I'm figuring in another 30 years, I'll be only playing up with the retirement home nurses and wont care what condition the boat will be in by then.
Composite I suppose is the best way to go, as they seem to be doing on new build boats nowa days..........
30 year masonite. i think masonite was ahead of its time, a engineered hardwood in pieces steamed together to provide tensile strength , i remember trying to snap masonite with my hands , was hard to do.
I can remember a build thread on a Markham Whaler on another forum, where he pulled up a soft floor, and literally had to shovel the pulped masonite out. That was the first time I'd ever heard of it being used in a boat. I've seen it left out in the weather, and it didn't last long. I personally find their "explanation" pretty weak, to say the least. Marine ply is actually designed to be used in contact with water , with no more than paint for protection. To say that stuff which was only fit for doing the backing on furniture was"better" than marine ply means it was cheaper than marine ply. Better for their build cost.
It's under a carport - but it still gets some sunlight every day as well a being used quite often. And like I said I haven't heard about anyone Polycraft deteriorating that way.
When I did my boat the Masonite was unsealed on the bottom, it was nailed down and a couple of layers of glass on the top, in most places, just the thin glass was left, some Masonite had just vanished years ago.
I think Masonite, and the reason that was given I thought strange, But like any product, as I mentioned, it can survive.
Whether or not it's the right product to use in a marine application or not, is very debatable, BUT, water ingress is its enemy, mine had none in 30 years so effectively it was in near perfect condition. Someone said here Pryor, it's basically our fault through stupid practices that cause any product to fail.
I've seen mush Masonite, doesn't take much water to kill it, but as I said, I was extremely surprised to see the condition mine was in.
Anyways, some nice thick correctly treated marine ply in it's place now, but I find it absolutely strange how long the industry used this product, dont know how long before 88 it was used, but it sounds as if it was used for 20 odd years.........
The floor in my seafarer was masonite.
No idea the age, but at least an 80's model.
It was mostly ok, except one soft spot. I thought it would be rot, but it was where the masonite had failed and cracked under the glass layer. Made it a bit softer.
The bottom wasnt glassed, but maybe covered in resin. Either way it was in reasonable condition.
Replaced with 12mm marine ply and plenty of glass. Like standing on a concrete slab now.
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I had a sportsman craft with Masonite That went to slop & i spoke with the son of the original builder he told me that when masonite first came out the manufactures pushed it calming it was much better product than the ply they had been using so it was used for a lot of years
I was down at Seatrek talking to Al Broughton last week. He was showing me cutouts of each part of the boat. I was really surprised at how strong that stuff is once it’s got all the glass and gel coat on it. He uses all composites for his cats. The only bit of wood used is on the bowsprit for extra strength. He told us how he uses a solid glass section in the front of the bow for impacts, just in case. He mentioned his foam bill was over 5 grand per boat.
While I was there I got to have a look at one of his early customers boats that was in for some minor work. The boats are built that strong that the boat is hung off a Davit. Stainless plates protrude up through the gunwhale each side at the back and another brace at the back of the anchorwell and the whole boat just hangs off three anchorage points. Boat is still straight as a die.
I still think that if anyone was looking for a cat under 6m, they would be looking for a long time to find one better built and finished than a Seatrek.
Democracy: Simply a system that allows the 51% to steal from the other 49%.
Would love one of Also boats but the boss has spoken. I've been there many a time as AL and Tim have been laying up their boats. They have customers coming back,a couple for their 3rd boat.
The composites have their advantages but they do have disadvantages as well but like all things there are ways around the issues.
Part of the problem with timber based boats is us (the consumer) too. As anyone that has spent time working on boats knows, to treat every drilled hole with epoxy, apply and then clean up large amounts of sealant not only adds material costs but is also time consuming. On a large scale - very time consuming. Punters (not all but most) are price conscious. I have had guys pay tolls and drive to an oposition dealership an hour away over $25 after wasting two hours of my time (said dealership failed some time later - selling stuff to cheap will do that). As such, the industry standard spirals downwards unfortunately as having the best built boat in the world is no good if you cant sell them because they are twice the price.
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